Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. H7-26294 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2631837 disclose that the density is changed during the knitting of one course of a fabric. An advantage that can be obtained from this changing is that a variety of fabrics can be obtained by changing the stitch size in one course. Aside from this, the inventor has discovered that, for a tubular fabric, stitches become large at an end part on a knitting-start section (a section within the fabric in which knitting of one course is started) side, and stitches become small at an end part on a knitting-end section (a section within the fabric in which the knitting of one course is ended) side. For this reason, the stitch size at the end part of the fabric becomes uneven, and the change in the stitch size on the front fabric is completely opposite from the one on the rear fabric, thus an irregularity in the stitch sizes can be noticed easily. The inventor has also discovered that when the fabric on the knitting-start section side comes around the knitting-end section side having a small stitch size, the tubular fabric is twisted.
For a flat fabric, on the other hand, stitches at an end part on a knitting-start section side become small, and stitches at an end part on a knitting-end section side become large. By adjusting the stitch size to be even, the quality of the fabric can be improved.